Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The buzzy romantic dramedy set in the Viagra sales world known as Love and Other Drugs has a full trailer now. Let's give it our trademark 'Yes No Maybe So' treatment. You do the same in the comments. Because, well, it's fun. It's a healthy way to manage expectations -- You vs. the Hype! -- forcing yourself to see the potential good, bad and inbetweens of a future film experience.

Yes. It's no secret that I'm exceptionally fond of both of both Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway, two of the best 20something actors on the planet.That designation won't last much longer as Anne turns 28 and Jake 30 as the year wraps up. But the thirtysomething years are often the peak ones for movie stars so if Jake & Anne raise their respective games here and really deliver as leads, we could be looking at amazing decades ahead for both of them, rather than a deflation of the early promise. At any rate, it'll be fun to see them reunited post Brokeback Mountain. I'm of the opinion that Hollywood would be smart to offer moviegoers more frequent screen pairings of actors that have already proven their chemistry. It's a through line that can make movies extra magical and it's just bewildering that Hollywood doesn't see it since as a business they love repeating past successes in just about every other way.

No. Well, there is the potential problem of this being a story we've seen a bazillion times (minus the viagra bit): cocksure young successful man who isn't the settling down type finally meets a girl who turns his world upszzzzzzzz. Sorry, I fell asleep thinking of 2,302 other movies whose names have escaped me. If these movies aren't made with great flair, they're virtually undistinguishable from each other at core.

Maybe So. This is what I find most surprising. I've never really liked an Edward Zwick picture before but I want to see this. It always seems like he's trying to win an Oscar rather than make a movie... but perhaps it's the earnest Baity historical subject matter he tends to favor that gives this impression. Maybe this more contemporary story will loosen up his direction and he will finally get that Best Picture nomination he's been chasing since the 80s. He's won the Oscar as a producer (Shakespeare in Love) but none of his own directorial efforts have been nominated. Even the ones Oscar really liked like Blood Diamond and Glory.

Yes: The cast. Anne and Jake are two of my favs and Oliver Platt is in this too...

No: I really don't have a no at this point.

Maybe So: Subject matter. How many Viagra/penis jokes are we going to have to endure in this movie? I get that its about a Viagra salesman but too many jokes will bog down the movie. Will Anne's character who has SPOILER ALERT *Parkinson's* be portrayed faithfully? I'm sure it will be but I'm slightly worried.

This does look a bit like 'Jerry Maguire', minus the football and add the viagra (especially when you consider where Jake and Anne's careers are now, in accordance to Tom and Renee's careers in '96). That said, I actually really like 'Jerry Maguire', even if it hasn't aged well.

I'm a total yes, but I'll admit that I'm the same as you, Nathaniel. It's really a matter of me liking the two leads very, very much.

Not even Darko? Wow. Yes, the movie's slightly over-rated, yet still best of it's year and less overrated than LOTR, but that is the one time I've thought, "wow, this guy has potential." He was good in Brokeback, October Sky and (don't shoot me), Bubble Boy. But I wasn't impressed by his performances in The Day After Tommorrow and (surprise), Zodiac.

It's a yes for me. I'm not really sure where the Oscar buzz is coming from (doesn't feel baity, plus Edward Zwick to me means = not Oscar). I'm just pulling for it to be a good movie, which (as many overlooked gems have taught us) are their own reward, with or without awards recognition.

I'm rooting for the continued success of both of these performers, especially Hathaway. She's the "anti-Katherine Heigl." Hathaway's developing a reputation for being very easy to work with and very generous. She's seemingly limitless in her potential, though limited by the roles she gets (Rachel Getting Married notwithstanding). And she's charismatic/intelligent to boot. See? Heigl's inverse.

Nathaniel, from the very few interviews I've ever read with Djimon Hounsou he seems like a fairly intelligent and articulate men who seems to be well informed and well read about African cultures and stereotypes, and he has alwats appeared to have a "take no crap" attitude as far as african stereotypes, understatements and patronizing attitudes towards the continent's diversity.

He has been quite vocal with his discontent with the simplistic way western media portrays Africa in general. And yet he signed up for one of the most disgustingly racist films ever made.

I'm not loving Jake here is the cocksure young up-and-comer. I just don't find him believable as a cad. I feel like he's at an awkward stage in his career where he's trying to be the big bankable Hollywood leading man, and I don't think it's working. He made his name playing sensitive, quirky souls, and I'm not sure he has the chops to play someone with a darker edge. Tom Cruise he's not.

I guess Donnie Darko had a dark edge, but not in the mainstream "studio" sense. He was still sensitive and quirky, and never meant to be absorbed by a mass audience in a homogenized way. I just think Jake is somewhat miscast here, based on the trailer.

Anne is stunning, though. I think the buzz will end up being all about her. And what happened to her voice? It's definitely lowered a few steps, and she's totally lost that sometimes annoying nasal quality it usually has. Has she pulled a Rock Hudson and destroyed her upper register via constant screaming? Doubt it. Maybe it's a more vocally friendly training, for the Judy movie? I'm loving the voice.

James T, I agree with you. Portman does seem a little bit off but the trailer makes the film seem very much intense.

And was I the only one to get the feeling that he was referencing some cinematic classics? Even Portman mentioned she felt that there were parts of the movie that looked like they were removed from 'Rosemary's Baby'.

i just hate that movie. i hate how leonardo dicaprio is this white superhero who just can't be killed by bullets while all the dark skinned men around her are massacred... just like, hey, whaddya know, Tom cruise impervious to harm while all the asians fall around him in last samurai. YUCK.

No- I actually don't care for Anne or Jake. It's not that I don't like them but I just don't have much to say about them. I find them kinda boring. I agree with Adam K. Jake is trying to be a leading man and it's not working. And that showed with Prince of Persia not doing well at the box-office. Anne just surprises me. Or atleast people's views on her do. I hate to say she's overrated but all she had to do was show some talent in Rachel getting married and people went beserk trying to get in her career's pants. I just don't find her versatile and she seems ordinary here. Overrall, I'm still waiting for these two to actually impress me. Especially jake.

Maybe so- it could be different. I knew nothing about this movie other than its title before seeing the trailer so there's always room for a surprise. Everybody else excitement for this movie might be contagious and catch me soon. I'm open-minded about it, it has potential to be unexpectedly awesome.

No- I actually don't care for Anne or Jake. It's not that I don't like them but I just don't have much to say about them. I find them kinda boring. I agree with Adam K. Jake is trying to be a leading man and it's not working. And that showed with Prince of Persia not doing well at the box-office. Anne just surprises me. Or atleast people's views on her do. I hate to say she's overrated but all she had to do was show some talent in Rachel getting married and people went beserk trying to get in her career's pants. I just don't find her versatile and she seems ordinary here. Overrall, I'm still waiting for these two to actually impress me. Especially jake.

Maybe so- it could be different. I knew nothing about this movie other than its title before seeing the trailer so there's always room for a surprise. Everybody else excitement for this movie might be contagious and catch me soon. I'm open-minded about it, it has potential to be unexpectedly awesome.

Well Nathanial, I highly suggest you read the book. Go online and order from your local library. That's what I did. It's called Hard Sell: The Memoirs Of A Viagra Salesman. It a good, quick read. Has everything in it humans go through in normal life. It's a true story. This may give you a better, all around feeling ( vibe ) about what you will be seeing on the movie screen come that time.Hathaway's Maggie is in first stage Parkinson's disease, and a fighter. If you can't find some empathy with her character ( that's for anybody ) than you ( anyone ) are just cold hearted because she doesn't want anyobody's sympathy and is a strong woman and at the same time is in the reality she has a debilitating, incurable disease. When I read this book before the film was being made, I just felt whoever gets the part to play Maggie, just may just be th best role of their career.

N... everybody dies in Glory, so... and Zwick SHOULD have been nominated for an Oscar for that film. Simply masterful filmmaking and storytelling and very well acted by all. First time I took Matthew Broderick serious as a dramatic actor. Impressive cinematography by the late great Freddie Fancis as well.

I also thought Legends Of The Fall and Courage Under Fire were good films.

I don't find much falt in those films as just a simple movie watching experience.

After all the wonderful test screening reviews ( one guy stated it was like "Jerry Maguire with a whole lot of sex") and now this charming/ soulful/ intelligent trailer, this is definitely one of my " must watch " films this year. I really believe Gyllenhaal , Hathaway, and Platt wil shine in this movie.

I forgot . I started to notice Hathaway's talent on a canceled Fox show called " Get Real" It was her first big acting role. The talented Jesse Eisenberg played her younger brother- again Anne had good chemistry with Eisenberg.

I saw this movie last week at a private screening in La and I have to say that I was extremely surprised by it. Jake completely owned the part and was wonderful--and I never really liked him in other roles.

Hathaway was just as good as she was in Rachel Getting Married, but can I just say how beautiful she is? Edward Zwick deserves an Oscar just for getting Hathaway completely naked for half of her time on screen...that's not a joke either. And she does have Parkinson's in the film. She just honestly nails the role completely.

Other than that, the writing was good but the film had structural problems. I'd call it a modern day love story set in 1996.

If you guys want to see a performance of an actor playing a character with Parkinson that is simply marvelous, really wonderful, a true masterpiece, simply brilliant and flawless, watch Bruno Ganz playing Hitler in Downfall.

As for Spider-Man 2, I've personally considered those movies abominations, creating a Spider-Man who would never be so casual and normal as to befit the nickname "Spidey." The Parker sections are not the problem. It's the fact that in those movies he has Batman's temperament in costume. I just hope that changes next time.

I actually agree with red. I know most people are pro Hathway (and I am too), but I only thought she was good and she is finally fulfilling her potential. I actually like Portman better as an actress more and the Black Swan trailer further proves it. Of corse it's just trailers. I actually thought Hathaway was annoying in the drugs trailer, very "actorly". I think Jake is a better actor than most gives him credit cuz of his good looks.

The trailer doesn't do it justice. Like someone posted earlier, do yourself a favor and read the book.If you don't or can't like Maggie ( Hathaway ) you have a screw loose.I liked that Hitler dig Amanda, just know in this movie Maggie is in very in the first stages of Parkinson's.And please people, this is the furthest thing from a romantic comedy. It's much deeper than that, and it tarnishes it's realism ( the true story )of it. READ THE BOOK !